Promise
by drawyoursword1
Summary: Random destructive mecha walkers are never good news in Sternbuild. But they might just bring Kotetsu and Barnaby closer to trusting each other. Barnaby fluff. Kotetsu mentor-ness. Rated for paranoia. Review to save the whales.


Promise

DO NOT OWN TIGER AND BUNNY

~Super special awesome shout out goes to ybarry for your kind reviews, even though I'm a hermit when it comes to reviews I know eheheheh (trying to get better on that as well) 'O.O ANYWAYS THANKYOUSOMUCH URTHABEST! *digital cookie sent*~

~~~T&B~~~

It had been a close battle yesterday. Tiger and Barnaby, the infamous crime fighting duo of Sternbuild, got a call about a NEXT crime organization that had stolen android walker tech-again. The same organization was involved in a prominent kidnapping ring. This ring had taken a single mom, a scientist, away from her young daughter, who was about Barnaby's age when his parents were killed. She witnessed the kidnapping.

Barnaby had met the girl in person; he had been the one to rescue her, calm her down, even learned her name was Julie. He could not escape his conscience, despite how many times he denounced it as professionalism or a whim to Kotetsu. Somehow, Kotetsu knew that he wouldn't let this alone until he saw it himself.

*FLASHBACK*

Barnaby went for the legs of the walker but it caught him by his arm and went for the other as Barnaby kicked it repeatedly in the open circuits. Kotetsu rushed in not long after, taking the other half of the robot down but not noticing a second that pulled his leg and threw him clear across the office into, thankfully, a pile of derelict plush office chairs.

"Kotetsu-san!?"

"M' alright Bunny!" called Kotetsu in a shaky voice.

The robots seized this tiny bit of split focus, grabbed each of Barnaby's arms at breakneck speed and slammed him into the wall. From there, one of the droids blasted his suit while the other droid slammed its battering rams into Barnaby's stomach, crushing him into the metal wall each time.

"Dgaugh!-aaAh-UUgh! Barnaby felt clicking, then intense pain.

"Bunny!"

Kotetsu came at full speed from the other side and knocked one walker into the other using a signature shoulder charge. The result was that the two of them release Barnaby, who fell on his face, getting right to his hands and knees, coughing for air. Kotetsu disarmed both of the androids and hurried over to where his partner was just getting up.

Barnaby's hundred power did a good amount of repair instinctively, but by the time he got back on the ground, he was seeing spots. Half his suit was torn off.

"You alright partner? That sounded like it hurt from where I was."

Barnaby's vision swam; he was anything but fine right now. But he couldn't let anything slow down this investigation. His injuries could wait until this was over. Which would hopefully be sooner than later.

"Nothing that serious, come on, we've got to get these hulls to Saito for study."

"He'll chew you out for that suit."

*END FLASHBACK*

Both heroes were working on and off the official clock for any leads at all for this case, but Barnaby especially. Though inwardly he knew he could hardly move from what happened yesterday, he hadn't stopped investigating and working with the police on the whereabouts of Julie's mother. It was a good thing (and a bad thing) that he passed by the medical team at the warehouse without an exam. One look and he would be bedridden for two days, and that meant loosing incredibly precious time when it came to missing persons. Right now only he, Kotetsu, and the NEXT captain of the police force were the only ones left at the office.

FLASHBACK

'We will always protect you forever and ever'

'Become a kind person who helps others when you grow up'

'Okay'

FLASHBACK

He couldn't go back on his promise. It was all he had…Wait. Barnaby blinked and stared at the screen. That's it. He had found her. He knew where the kidnapped victim was. He moved around the table quickly, no time to loose-"uuAAAUUGH!-uunnn…" All the wind was knocked out of Barnaby's body. In a hurry to get downstairs, he had run into a steel desk and stuck desk drawer that had jarred his injuries into a complete knockout. The square edges of the drawer bore mercilessly into the fresh bruises from earlier, leaving not a single nerve painless. In brief agony his breath caught in his throat, his vision went black, and he knew nothing else.

The police chief found him first

"Help! We need help in here!"

Kotetsu had stepped back into their office with coffee, drawn into the room from the commotion. He roughly slammed the tray down, rushing over to the noisy cubicle.

"It will be alright son, just hang in there-"the chief admonished in a calm manner. His tone and demeanor testified to how much he had seen before. Kotetsu had just rounded the corner and his heart jumped when he saw a familiar pair of prone red boots.

"What happened over here-Bunny!"

Kotetsu hopped over the desk in his way and ran to his partner's body, pale and still on the floor. His head rested on the chief's grey overcoat.

"I found him like this. If we can't wake him up we should call an ambulance."

"No blood anywhere, but-damn, he's too still-is he breathing!?" Tiger thought out loud. His stomach back-flipped into his chest as he took Barnaby's head into his lap carefully. He wasn't moving

Barnaby POV

"-arnaby..rr…okkkayy?" the voice called as Barnaby focused his thoughts. "Talk to me partner…Hey! Can you hear me?"

Barnaby's eyes fluttered open; his vision went in and out of focus. The whole room spun like a carnival ride. As soon as he found his voice, he tried to get up while admonishing Kotetsu that there was no time to loose. He could sit up fine on his own but his face screwed up in pain at the smallest movement. Kotetsu's face set into concern. Whatever happened was bad enough that Barnaby couldn't breathe properly.

"Kotetsu, we have to go to Helios downtown, that's what the ransom note meant by 'undying heat', not the Justice Flame on 4th A-avenue…" mumbled Barnaby in a raspy voice.

Through his explanation, Barnaby's arm never left his stomach. He looked as though the coffee that Kotetsu brought him for the last two days was the only thing he was running on at the moment. As soon as he began talking, his lower back sank leaned into Kotetsu without thinking.

"Hey, whoa! Don't move! They found her, the police are taking her to her daughter right now. I'm more worried about you at this point. I found you unconscious on the floor-"

"She's-she's okay?"

"Yeah, she's alright, her and Julie" the police chief agreed, "medical checked them over, the whole nine yards. Just take it easy young man."

"Shsss okay…Barnaby trailed off, repeating the news like a revelation. His eyes glazed over in relief and exhaustion. His breathing became softer and he began to close his eyes.

"Hey, hold on, stay with me Bunny!"

"She's okay…" with a sigh, Barnaby fell asleep again.

"Bunny!" Kotetsu panicked a little, laid Barnaby down, checked his pulse and breathing, all not life threatening but not the best. The police chief left matter to Kotetsu after receiving another extremely urgent call. Kotetsu gave the chief a short and heartfelt thanks before returning his attention to Barnaby. He was still shaking; Kotetsu could see the twinges of pain rack his body as it tried to shut itself down out of exhaustion. He had never seen Barnaby do anything like this before except for leads on Ouroboros. Before he passed out he seemed so happy that the little kid got her mom back-they had dealt with many kidnapping cases, but none this personally before. Those other cases had been carefully done, but all business. None of them had driven Barnaby so far that he endured so much to find the culprit-as far as Kotetsu knew.

'Bunny put all he had into this one' thought Kotetsu fondly. The kid was really more selfless than he gave him credit for. He looked a mess, that was for sure. He probably wasn't getting enough sleep-again. Falling over the desk like he must have his shirt had flown up. 'Wait…..'

Kotetsu squinted. He thought he had seen Barnaby's belt or even his shirt but…that discoloration was….skin toned….He lifted the black shirt slightly and retracted his hand instantly, horrified. Black and blue patches, 'probably down both of his sides' he gathered, only catching a glimpse, but understanding the situation no less. 'Those mecha suits from the other day…'

Kotetsu watched Barnaby breathe slowly while he put two and two together on the floor. Examining the bruises again, he could tell that this happened days ago from the nasty hints of green and yellow around the black and purple. 'Why didn't he say something!?-his hundred power-How much of himself had he healed already? How had he been able to stand all this time?'

Now Kotetsu understood. A good body check or even a tap on these bruises would be enough to knock anyone out.

'Bunny…'

Kotetsu gathered the younger hero into his lap, taking care not to jostle his injuries.

Speaking of, Barnaby stirred from his untimely sleep as Kotetsu was thinking. Barnaby's eyes opened more slowly than the first time. Kotetsu's look was one of finality. Barnaby's vision still didn't forgive him as he squinted to recognize Kotetsu.

"T-tiger…?"

"You're going to a hospital, or home to rest. Pick one" Kotetsu deadpanned.

"What do you-"the young hero bristled angrily

"The tenderized beef that is your chest?" Kotetsu cut across. Barnaby's eyes softened slightly. "Yeah, that. It's getting addressed right now" said Kotetsu firmly

"You don't-hey!" the younger hero protested weakly

Barnaby was picked up bridal style, carried downstairs, and placed into Kotetsu's car. Kotetsu started the engine.

"If you're well enough to go to work then you're well enough for a sleepover, right?" said Kotetsu with a mischievous smile. Barnaby didn't know what to say nor did he have the energy to argue as Kotetsu made the left out of the company parking garage. He figured he should at least thank his partner before things went dark again unexpectedly.

"Kotetsu I-I'm sorry."

"Come again?" Barnaby never said sorry. This did nothing to ease Kotetsu's conscience; all he needed was for the kid to have a concussion on top of all this.

"That I worried you. I w-wanted, I just-uuuuunh."

"I know, Barnaby." Kotetsu stressed his real name with concern. Barnaby looked up at him. "You've done enough. What you need right now is rest, understand?"

Barnaby kept his eyes on him mutely, laying back down.

Kotetsu drove on out of uptown; lamplight flickered on in the early winter twilight of the huge city.

"mhhhm-ugh," Barnaby mumbled in pain as quietly as possible as Kotetsu drove carefully over a few bumps in the road. …"I… made a promise."

Kotetsu's eyebrows went up in mild surprise and settled into a vacant stare over the wheel and into the city. His eyes settled on the keening lights in the sky that were the first of the stars coming out as it began to get dark.

"I promised them…to..I-Ko-tetsu?

Kotetsu turned toward him.

"Don't lie, please Kotetsu, d-do you think…I kept my promise?"

The veteran hero smiled and wistfully stared out of the car window.

"….You kept it the moment you became a hero, Bunny-chan."

Kotetsu hummed the whole way back as the red-jacketed hero fell asleep to the new lights of Stern Build overhead.

~~~T&B~~~

Fin! And Fin again! Wow, that was longer than I expected to be. I only seem to have the time to post new ones rather than update. But I need a good one to update so people don't loose interest….

The next one will probably be a Barnaby sickfic because caring heroes are so fun to write :P

Once again I'm open to prompts, challenges and fic adoptions!

Thank you so much and please review!


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